Grouse, grouse, grouse....oh, and a deer or two

Today's target species was Black Grouse, so we were up and out well before dawn - much to Lou's disgust!  It was very cold, calm and clear overnight, with temperatures down to -4 degrees by the time we got out into the countryside - ideal conditions for getting some good activity on the lek. 

We spent several hours from 6am onwards in a Glen in the Balmoral Estate, where we've previously observed good numbers of Blackcock. Driving up the foot of glen, a pair of Roe Deer bounded across the road in front of us, into a stand of Scotch pines. Moments later, we passed two magnificent Red Deer stags crossing a heavily frosted field, just before sunrise. It was quite a privilege to get such a close view of such mature stags - a 16 pointer and a 14 pointer respectively. It would've been even better if the light levels had been just a bit higher, but I'm not going to complain!

Red Deer Stags 

As we entered the main glen, I was surprised to spot a Mountain Hare relatively low down, on a knoll close to the river; very visible in it's white winter coat amongst the grass & heather. I was able to get quite close to it - and when it did spot me, it wasn't particularly bothered - slouching off very nonchalantly into a burrow. I was interested to see this behaviour, as I hadn't realised that Hares used burrows at all. It quickly reappeared back in the same spot - clearly a favourite place to sit. There were also a small group of Red Deer does on the far bank of the stream and several Curlews and Lapwings flew past. 

Mountain Hare

Slightly further along the glen, we had our first Black Grouse sighting, just as the sun started coming over the hills. Several birds landed in the scrub close to the road, before flying back across the river to the main lek, where about a dozen males were displaying. From the car, we watched them lekking for about half an hour, although once the sun started to hit the lek, the activity very quickly dwindled away & the birds flew up into the treeline.

Black Grouse

Moving further up the glen, we passed lots more Red Deer - with large numbers of young stags browsing on the grass on the banks of the river, and other groups visible on the slopes on either side of the valley. 

We parked up & set of up the footpath towards the loch, passing a second distant Black Grouse lek  on the marshy area just below the foot. Also grazing on this area were yet more Red Deer stags - a herd of over 170 stags of various ages (yes I did count, I'm sad that way). They were remarkably unbothered by us walking past them; normally I'd expect them to be off at top speed.

Our path also took us past a third Black Grouse lek, next to a stand of Scotch pines. I was able to get a few shots of the birds displaying from the path. In total over 50 Black Grouse seen. The most I have seen in one morning and it certainly looks like the numbers are finally increasing.

Black Grouse

We also spotted at least 10 Goldcrests feeding in the pines, plus several owl pellets on the ground - but no sign of the owl itself.

Walking back to the carpark, we had a very close encounter of the deer-kind, as most of the huge herd of stags decided to cross the path & make their way up onto the slopes directly in front of us. I really enjoyed the chance to play with the strong light & shade contrasts.

Red Deer Stag - 14 point

After a quick pit-stop for much-needed bacon rolls & coffee in Ballater, we drove through the Red Grouse moors around Bridge of Gairn. However, there was a lot of raptor activity, with at least 8 buzzards patrolling overhead - plus several ravens - so the Grouse were mainly keeping their heads down! We did spot a few little red-eyebrows peeking over the heather, but there was little displaying going on. We did have a very nice pair of Song Thrushes, though.

Red Grouse - Male

As we were fairly close, we decided to drive on to Glenshee for another look at the Snow Buntings. I was also hoping for another chance at the Red Grouse on snow... and perhaps even the elusive Ptarmigans. However it was not to be, as the snow cover has really shrunk in the mild weather over the last few days, so both the grouse & Ptarmigans had moved further up the slope. We did find an obliging Snow Bunting though, much to Bill's delight.

Snow Bunting

Red Grouse - Female

On the way back to Aberdeen,  we had a bonus - very brief - glimpse of an otter swimming upstream in the Dee just outside of Braemar. We made another pass of the Red Grouse moors and were rewarded with some better sightings - including one splendid specimen which was just too close for my lens!

Red Grouse - Too close :)

Driving back, we again spotted good numbers of Greylag geese in the fields around Muir of Dinnet - however today they had been joined by several Pink-foots and a solitary Barnacle Goose too.